Op-Ed: Cottage more important than Pride Parade for Toronto Mayor Ford

Toronto
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Mayor Rob Ford will not be on hand Sunday July 3 for the annual Pride Parade takes place in Toronto. Ford is begging off to go to his family cottage instead.

Ford says that the cottage time is a family tradition that he isn't breaking just because he's the mayor.

In past years Toronto mayors have been part of the parade showing support to the LGBT community. The announcement that Ford will not be attending the parade also is sending a message to the community.

Poet Patrick Connors said that Ford needs to be impeached when asked about his feelings about the announcement.

"It shows that he is not in touch with the overall electorate and that he has no interest whatsoever in getting close to them. Therefore he doesn't represent the City of Toronto!"

The announcement wasn't a surprise for Bryen Dunn of Toronto.

"Not much of a surprise really, he has the right to choose his schedule, and participating in anything is not mandatory," Dunn added, "It's not anything that the queer community already was aware of or assumed."

Mychol Scully of Toronto said, "It appears that Mr. Ford's mayoralty campaign promise to be an accessible mayor, and to serve the Toronto taxpayer, was a lie. The complexity of managing a metropolis like Toronto, with it's very diverse population, appears to be beyond Mr. Ford's abilities. He is either completely clueless about the requirements of his job, or is being willfully stupid about it."

Rex Burruss of Atlanta responded to the news with, "Considering the size of the gay population, one would think that the mayor of a major city would want to put in an appearance to show his or her support for their constituency."

The LGBT community is a strong one in the city. Pride Week in Toronto brings in vast sums of tourist dollars. By not visibly supporting the community Ford is sending a message to the rest of the world. A message that has been repeated over various social causes in recent weeks.

Being the mayor is not a 9 to 5 Monday-Friday job. Last year during an interview former Mayor David Miller told me that the endless hours that were required for running a city like Toronto were exhausting but needed.

Mayor Ford's non-appearance to this and other events that are important to the city is sending a clear message to residents of the city. Is that message one you can tolerate?

This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com